Fresno State president has lofty plans for Bulldogs

FRESNO, Calif. >>  If Fresno State someday achieves its avowed goal of domination in the Mountain West Conference and a place at the higher level for its athletic program, it will not have come without ample warning.

Everywhere, it seems, #BeBold is imprinted on this sprawling campus amid the rich San Joaquin Valley agricultural fields.

As Hawaii comes to town for Saturday’s West Division football showdown at Bulldog Stadium, the vision of Fresno State president Joseph Castro can be seen on pennants draped from light poles, on walls and even on the sides of trucks. And, of course, all over social media.

In this land known for raisins, what Castro is raising is the bold proposition that a mid-major school — even one pinned in by Stanford and Cal to the north and USC and UCLA to the south — can rise above the hand dealt it by the Power Five conferences.

In the short term, Castro, who took office a little more than a year ago, is pledging help for the 18-team athletic department that has struggled to meet its $28 million-$30 million budgets.

But in the medium and longer terms he is setting it up to stand on its own entrepreneurial underpinnings.

Nothing spoke to the blueprint more than the reassignment of veteran athletic director Thomas Boeh and hiring last week of rainmaker Jim Bartko from the University of Oregon. Bottom-line Boeh toed a frugal line in his eight years, but was said to lack imagination.

Castro’s idea of an AD in the new college landscape is someone who is less of a bean counter and more of an innovator, somebody who can go one-on-one to induce alumni and corporations to open their wallets wide. "Friend-raising," as Castro has come to term it.

Enter Bartko, a Valley native who was a Ducks link to Nike’s Phil Knight and a lot more as executive senior associate AD.

The job description ran counter to the trend of hiring people who could wrestle with budgets but not necessarily go out and harvest checks.

The field of applicants for the job was impressive and Castro said, "I think that’s because they could see what we see here, that Fresno State is in a prime position to rise to the next level, which, for us, is to dominate in the Mountain West and then to position ourselves for the highest level of competition nationally. And, I believe, in order for us to do that we’re gonna need everybody, we’re going to need individuals, businesses, corporations."

The best American universities, Castro maintains, "have strong academic and athletic programs and they feed off of each other."

With the disparity in TV and postseason contracts, the arrival of year-round training tables and the coming of stipends and such, Castro said, "It is clear to me  and to others that in order to just stand still — which is not what we’re going to do, we’re going to rise — will require greater investments. So, it is (also) clear to me that we are going to need everybody involved in that effort: the campus, all of our friends in the community, including our 200,000 alumni, and lots of our friends in the Valley."

Whether the AD model catches on elsewhere among Mountain West and other mid-majors remains to be seen. 

"My instincts suggest that this is a time to be bold in this area," Castro said. "I don’t want to speak for other institutions but, for us, it is that time."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.